I read this opinion piece on The Huffington Post this week and found it especially intriguing. Sure, $3 million is a lot to you and I, but they say it is enough to endow a research center and, by association, the preservation of a green space? Wow!
From that piece:
So, how do we ensure that these treasures survive to inspire our descendants and teach them about the many-layered complexities of life? A permanent research presence goes a long way towards protecting a parcel of nature in perpetuity, while simultaneously building a better understanding of that parcel. Terborgh and Sinclair both estimate that it would cost a minimum of $3 million to endow their respective field stations, forever. In Peru, the revenue flowing from such an endowment would pay the salaries of two permanent scientific directors and cover the scant operating costs of the rustic station. In Tanzania, the goal is to underwrite the training and permanent presence of additional Tanzanian scientists, spreading the sense of stewardship of the country’s living assets.
Okay, so where does such money come from? Well, I worked for the advancement office for my college while in school, and we handled endowments as alums and others donated different sums of money for professorships. Schools and other non-profits alike have a development or advancement office, charged with bringing in both small and large donations for the institutions. Typically, $1 million or more would endow a chair for a professorship, which meant that a professor who earned the title would be given extra resources, assistants, equipment, etcetera, to carry out teaching and research in a specific field, using the interest from the endowment each year for expenses.
So, how would universities be able to get people to pony up the extra $2 million for the endowment of a research station? First, you could sell this on the premise of sustainability and research and preservation methods used toward a healthier planet. Donors will be increasingly mindful of the envirohuman impact their dollars can make in the coming years. Second, while $1 million might be about the floor for a professorship, many donate large sums for buildings and if you are in the camp who can donate $1 million, perhaps you can be persuaded to donate even more.
Sweeten the Deal
But okay, how many people are going to go to this extent with their donations, and will advancement offices be able convince donors to spot that much extra dough? Maybe sometimes, but not often would be my guess. How could the deal be sweetened, and who could do it? The U.S. Government, which is looking to: 1) stimulate the economy with good jobs, 2) support the sciences, especially related to sciences, biology, ecology, and even medicine, 3) support education opportunities, and 4) begin making moves toward preserving our precious natural resources.
Let’s say that the U.S. Government offered up for three years, half of the $3 million price tag to any U.S. public institution that could allocate or garner a new donation for the other $1.5 million, with a total ceiling for the Government of about $100 million per year? That’s might sweeten the deal if a donor were told, for another half a million, his or her name could go on a research station and help preserve a green space, and endow two professors. Their name would go onto any research published from that station, as well.
And development officers would be inclined to push for this, or Universities could even have a temporary $5 to $10 fee each semester added ($6 X ~40,000 students X 2 semesters, plus summer sessions’ fees gets you there!) to help fund the stations. You could limit an institution to no more than one $1.5 million federal influx per year, unless the funds were going to go unused, which would encourage universities to line up extra donors each year to take advantage of extra dollars.
This could be huge for education, providing great pay for more professorships which would entice more people to go into the life sciences, which is critical to our understanding of life, the climate, medicine, and a host of other interrelated subjects. How many? Well, over three years, it could be a total of $600 million invested into these research stations, providing a total 2oo stations and 400 professorships.
Useful Research
Think of all of the useful research and information, the preservation that could be done. We’re talking about more publications based on findings out in the field coming out for decades in increasing frequency with better efficiency, because the professors could stay out in the field longer. Better teaching opportunities abound, as students get to visit and get more hands-on experience and are taught by professors spending more time in naturally green spaces.
And building the research stations in a manner that would not greatly disturb the surrounding environment and that they would be sustainable would provide relatively highly paid construction jobs for a new greener building economy.
Who knows, if the program were successful in cultivating a large number of professorships, we could maybe get the government to begin funding this in perpetuity. You know, the way we do other things deemed as, “necessary,” such as brand new warplanes that never see combat but cost billions of dollars.
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